and according to the engine room survivors the collision occurred just "two seconds" after it rang.
You have to stop believing every little detail that someone says Aaron. People in general make horrible eyewitnesses, especially when it comes to subjective details such as time durations and distances. That same survivor who said the collision happened 2 seconds after he heard telegraph bells ring, and who also gave very detailed time accounts of the engine movements after, also was asked about the watertight doors closing:
3734. Was anything done about the watertight compartments? - Yes.
3735. Were they closed? - In the meantime.
3736. How soon after the ship struck was that done? - Three minutes.
Considering it takes only about 1/2 a minute for those doors to drop shut (and that was by observation on Olympic), and considering Murdoch was seen at the WTD switch by Olliver when he entered the bridge just as the ship struck, it tells me that Dillon's timing estimates cannot be relied upon.
By the way, the WTD switch was not in the wheelhouse, it was mounted closed the wheel on the navigating bridge.
On more thing to consider was Hichens' account of Smith coming out of his quarters:
1025. Tell us what you heard in the way of command? -
Just about a minute, I suppose, after the collision, the Captain rushed out of his room and asked Mr. Murdoch what was that, and he said, “An iceberg, Sir,” and he said, “Close the watertight door.”
The Commissioner: Wait a minute.
A minute after the collision, Captain Smith -
1026. (The Attorney-General.) Came out of his room on to the bridge do you mean? - Yes, Sir; he passed through the wheelhouse on to the bridge.
1027. He rushed out of his room through the wheelhouse on to the bridge? - Yes.
1028. And asked Murdoch, “What is that?” - Yes.
1029. And Murdoch said, “An iceberg.” Is that right? - Yes.
1030. Mr. Murdoch said “An iceberg,” and then? - The Captain immediately gave him orders to close the watertight doors. He said, “They are already closed.” He immediately then sent for the carpenter to sound the ship.
The Commissioner: The Captain gave orders to close the watertight doors?
1031. (The Attorney-General.) Yes. Mr. Murdoch said, “They are already closed.” Do you know where they were closed from? - Yes, the fore-part of the bridge.
Hichens also was asked about the time from 3 bells to the time Murdoch gave his helm orders:
973. How long was that [3 gongs from the crow's nest] before the order came “Hard-a-starboard”? - Well, as near as I can tell you, about half a minute.
That also agrees, more or less, with what Fleet said:
Senator FLETCHER. How long were you at the telephone?
Mr. FLEET. I suppose half a minute.
What seemed later as a 1/2 minute could have been as little as 15 to 20 seconds, but if Olliver was still on the compass platform when those 3 bells were struck, and if he just entered the bridge as the ship struck, then there was at lease 45 to 50 seconds from 3 bells to when the ship struck just considering the distance he had to walk to get from the compass platform to the bridge.
Smith could have been lying down in his settee dozing off, or perhaps he was in his lavatory indisposed when the main events started.
This also begs the question as to where Boxhall really was during all that time.
